>> good morning, my name is richard rothmans and i'm back again talking about the mother's building at the zoo and i think since last time i've been here, i've been hearing that things have been move ining the right direction and i want to thank everybody. i did get a chance to go into the building the end of november and i was really in a state of shock. while i know it's going to take a long time to come up with a plan, i think while i'm not an architect or a professional preservationist, i think we need between rec and park and the art commission needs to go in and look at the west wall to make sure there's no more

damage, it's really -- it really upset me when i saw the damage to the west wall of the mural there, so while the city's developing a long-term plan, i think there needs to be a short-term plan to make sure that there's no more damage to the murals, and also that rec and park will support the landmarks stat to make the mother's building a city landmark, although it was a national landmark, and we also need to look at the long-term goals so we make sure that what happens at the mother's building in coy tower doesn't have again and that we set up -- i've been talking to david chu's office for setting up a citizen's advisory committee or some type of committee that can work with the art commission at rec and park to help manage

these issues so that there is communications between the two departments and that we don't let our heritage fall in disrepair like what has happened, and since i've been talking to a lot of people, not many people have been inside the building and want to see inside the building, so maybe either rec and park or the zoo can have a little mini open house so that people can go in and see for themselves the current condition of the mother's building, and i think it's all more important to what happened to the zoo house, and thank you for your consideration. >> thank you. >> okay, we have time for one more under this part of the general public comment, it will be continued again near the end of the calendar, so this is our last speaker. >> how many speakers do we have. we're going to extend it, we have one more person at this.

>> are you going to be speaking? >> then let's wait, there's only two items on the agenda so hopefully we'll get to it. >> these are basically things we're not getting a department response on. we have to come down here. when oracle staged their acclaimed event on the city front, they gave rec and park money to repair the damage to little marina green, but the repair is terrible. we have a concave marina green flood and it is not going to be ready for the springtime volleyball, we asked them to take a look at that because they didn't spend the money they got, it's a mess, it's just not appropriate and we hope you will take a close look at that. >> thank you. >> okay. so, for now, that is the end of general public comment. item number 4. we're on item number 5 which is

the consent calendar. is there any public comment on the consent calendar? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners? >> mows on the consent calendar? >> moved and seconded. all those in favor? >> aye. >> thank you. >> we are now on item 6, the san francisco zoo. >> good morning, tanya peterson with the san francisco zoo, i'm sorry i'm so casual but we're hanging light this morning, and we'll start with november attendance, as you saw in the report, we had 45 thousand 680 visitors during the month of november versus our 41 thousand budget so we had a positive increase by over 4600 visitors, that's the good news because this december thus far, rain seems to have come on every weekend day which is with we

have our highest periods of attendance and it looks like it's going to rain this weekend, december is running behind budget by about 17%, thankfully year to date balances 4% ahead, but we're hoping with some holiday programming, we will make up the delta these next two week, as you know, four reindeer came in to visit us for the holiday period, you can also adopt a reindeer and adopt and conserve north american species and also we're doing something very new for us, we're keeping the zoo open until 8:00 through the holidays and we are going to have some zoo life thanks to pg and e and our sponsors and we thought we could do a little preview of that if we could move to the video, please. (music playing).

>> thanks to the ad agencies for doing that pro bono add for us, like i mentioned, we will be open until 8:00 through the holiday period except for the 24th and 25th, this is free for our members, it's reduced admission, otherwise 5 dollars, we also have a 520 foot tree that we will light tomorrow, we have various vip's, they include nula and sumba from the lion king, from the grateful

dead and more, each night, a vip, we have a sneak preview night for our members as well, please, i hope you can join us and then lastly, i wanted to announce that our bat exhibit will be closing on january 6, this is in the interior of the pachyderm building and was highlighted some of the conservation crisis facing our bats but that will be replaced by a dinosaur exhibit on valentine's day, so treat your sweetheart with a dinosaur or two on february 14th and that will be running until the summer, and with that, i finish my report. >> thank you. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners, this was discussion only. >> thank you. >> we are now on item 7, a gift acceptance from the san francisco parks alliance.

>> good morning, commissioners and happy holidays, bob palacio, san francisco recreation services. the item before you is a possible action item to retroactively accept a gift from the san francisco parks alliance in the amount of 65 thousand 205 dollars and 36 cents for the basketball program, just some background on the program, the association of basketball programs, anblp serves character treats ages 18 to 30, organized athletic activities, in this case basketball, educational and employment workshops and ancillary services and they work community responsibility

and redirect energies towards positive goal setting and social goals, realization of these goals have stronger communities, they were led by the san francisco park and rec department, there were four divisions that were held this summer, we had a jr. division which is basically made up of teens and we have a young adults division and those both took place at both sites, we have a championship game as well, this is the current funder of this program or main funder of the program, that's how the 65 thousand dollars basically got to parks alliance so we want to make we understand their financial support is crucial to the

program, not only now but moving forward. there are a number of program objectives that you can see in your packet on page 2 and the reason for those objectives and why they're so important for us to measure them is we don't want to hold another basketball league, there's plenty of them out there, the participants are required to show up to the classes that are held each week prior to the games, if you don't show, you don't play, they're figuring out ways to get their license back, figuring out how they're going to pay for child support, those are common problems with the participants so it's important they attend those things and that's the goal of the program. another goal of the program is for us to track how successful this program is in their lives moving forward, you know, are they committing crimes in the

coming year, are they gainfully employed, things like that that will track to see what the true value of the program is, it doesn't make a lot of sense for us to go and spend a lot of money and put a lot of resources into another basketball program, this is for something else, so i think the participants recognize that, they're involved in something that's bigger than just an athletic program, that they're doing something that will potentially help them change their lives in a positive direction. with that, if you have any questions. >> thank you. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners? >> i'll entertain a motion. >> second. >> commissioner low had a question, i beg your pardon. >> i was going to make the motion to move but also say, you know, if you've ever gone to these games to watch the kids play, there's some really talented players out there, it's a great program, i like what you do for the kids out

there and i was going to make the motion to approve. >> so, it's been moved. >> second. >> seconded, all those in favor. aye. thank you. >> we are now on item 8, the san francisco marina west harbor. >> good morning, commissioners, i'm mary hobson, project manager of the recreation and parks department capital, i in the p.m. are in charge of seeing the ren vaetion of the marina west harbor, this is a request to approve an increase in contract value for our consultants, construction management firm four leaf, four leaf has been on site overseeing the construction of the project since may of 2011, during that time, they have been responsible for the day-to-day oversight inspection tracking of the schedule and

budget processing change orders and essentially keeping our contractor in line. over the course of the project, also, there have been some changes that we have come to 4 leaf to help us that we're not under their original scope of services and the results fees for those additional services have resulted in a contract increase above 10%, that is why i'm here today to ask for your approval. the original contract value for this project was 799 thousand 990 dollars. we are asking to increase the contract up to 980 thousand 800 dollars 25 cents, the additional services being provided by 4 leaf and their sub consultants essentially revolve around two ie tep, the first and the majority which is

related to monitoring and permitting oversight for the contaminated sediments that were uncovered during the course of the project. we asked 4 leaf to bring on a sub consultant that specializes in this sort of permitting and oversight, baoud row and associates, as well as their sub consultants that perform specialized engineering services and surveying for that work. the other item which we've asked 4 leaf to do on our behalf is to be on-site for an additional 88 days, this is as a result of our contract that was approved by this commission. overall, with this amendment, the total contract value only represents 4.4% of the total contract value. this is extremely low. this is the effective the and efficient contract and we typically budget 10% for cm services so i think this is really reasonable and i want to

thank 4 leaf on behalf of the department for their good work on this project. with that, i conclude my presentation and i'd be happy to answer any questions you may have for the renovation project overall. >> commissioner harrison? >> yeah, since we have you here, someone brought up the point of further need of dredging, further dredging you have? >> yes, the overall construction project is a multiyear project. it included four cycles of dredging starting in 2009 concluding in 2012, sand continually comes into the harbor, it is continually entering, we perform maintenance dredging on an annual basis, during the course of the last year, since it was dredged by its target depth, we had an unusual high volume of sand coming into the harbor. we had estimated 7 thousand 700

cubic yards of sand coming in, each year we had a contract for them to remove 12 thousand of newly accumulated sand of which they removed 11 thousand 433, it turned out not to be quite enough, we have a little bit of additional accumulation which we would have removed as part of this annual dredge cycle, however, we ran out of time. the dredging window for dredging closes on november 30th and they dredged up until the end, they had very complicated dredging sequence and their dredging contracts were not approved until the end of august so they're out there and removing sand right up until the end. when we realized we had this extra, about 2400 cubic yards yards of stand that needed to be removed, we applied for a permit and we were denied, there's herring, spawning in the area and dredging is very

detrimental to their spawning and habitat during this time of the year, so there's a section of sand there that's left, but we have to come back next year anyway and we're already taking steps to try to get an early dredge approval and get our contract in place so they can come in as early as april, take out that sand as well as taking out any additional sand that accumulates between now and then for a long-term. . inger there's another piece to this where floating break water, once the floating break water is installed, that that will relieve some of the treasure from the sand coming in. is that -- >> we have modeling that shows sand transportation patterns. whenever you do something significant to change the patterns like the installation of the floating break water, you have no idea what's going to happen. >> and the tide too i guess.

er >> we're hoping the calming in the inner harbor and reduction of surge into the harbor will reduce the amount of sand flowing in. we also have a newly approved mechanism to collect sand which is the sand trap, in this last permitting cycle, we got approval from the regulatory committee to dig deep, so next year, we can dig deep and hopefully have a place for all that sand to land, and a renovation project will continue on until it's resolved into 2013 dredging, maintenance dredging cycle. >> thank you very much. >> we do have public comment, bruce stone.

>> as ms. hobson mentioned, dredging is a complex subject, but i do understand that dutra took their equipment away during that window and used it for more pressing jobs, so that could have been done by november 30th, so that's a contract management issue so we're not thrilled with this extension of more soft cost and the item that's in front of you because we feel a lot of that dredging could have been done during the window, ms. hobson was not addressing the toxic issue, she's talking about the sand accumulation at the entrance so you're not getting a straight answer about the dredging problem, we have a significant loss in depth from the design of the project for a large number of berths inside the harbor, which means when people start to pick their

berth, there is the a berths which are 12 feet deep which is the design of almost all harbors, there are the b quality berths which are the inner west that are 8 foot, it's because of the tox -- toxic soil in there. now we find out that there are berths that are 3, 4, 5 and 6 feet, not 8 feet, and we want a commitment from rec and park department that when the dredging window opens, they'll go back in and do surgical dredging and go in there and pull the rest of that stuff out otherwise when people pick their berth, they're not going to pick their berths so a large number of constituents that think they're going to get back into the harbor are going to be faced with shallow berths, this is a huge problem, we've written to the department about it and we've gotten no

response, we need to know the money is budgeted for that, it's the elephant in the tent there. if you want to talk about all that harbor entrance stuff that she spoke about, that's wonderful, but the problem is inside the harbor, not the harbor entrance. >> thank you. >> paul? >> i just would like to quickly add in addition to bruce's comments that what i heard mary hobson say is that these renovations will continue and in effect, i understand that ordinance 1131-12 is where the rent will be increased by 30% once the renovation is declared complete, and it's in effect what mary has said is the renovations will continue, i believe that really blocks the park and rec from raising the rent because the renovation is not complete and i think that's an issue that as the commission, you need the discuss and continue because there may be legal implications to that, if you're effectively

saying, we delivered a harbor that doesn't mean the design specks, it all looks great, if you try to put boats into those berths, they're unusable, those berths are rendered impassable for a boat unless you're going out at high tide or going out in low tide, you can only go in or out, you're limited, you can legally charge a 35% increase in rent only when the renovation is complete. i think the other part the commission needs to come clear on and be succinct about is the security issue, right now, i don't believe that there will be adequate fences, gates to prevent homeless people from walking on the docks and decide to take up residents in

whatever boat they choose to live on or steal things from it, it's paramount that also be addressed and if it's not complete, that there be firm commitments and some binding means by which -- that will be done by a certain date because frankly, we're paying a lot of money. this is one of the few park facilities that you have in your general management that is a profit center, the money being taken in under the harbor trust dictates that money's supposed to stay in there and it's supposed to be allocated from there. it is supposed to be cash neutral and in a sense, the city is about to try to gain a lot more income without meeting the minimum bare requirements, the design requirements, i think the park commission should look at those issues and respond to a formal way to look into that. >> thank you. >> is there anyone else who would like to make public

comment on this item. seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners? >> i think i might ask on behalf of the commission that we do get some kind of response in writing to the commission on the issues that have been raised. the dredging issue and some of the related -- i think there's some issues that are well above our pay great that probably the city attorney would have to weigh in on and what our responsibilities are, the contract in terms of the acceleration of rates and the timing of that, but i don't want to get into getting part of those answers right now. i would appreciate it if you could through the general manager provide a report to the commission on it. with that, i don't see any questions of commission. is there a motion? >> so moved. >> moved and seconded, all those in favor? >> aye. >> aye. >> thank you. >> we're now on item number 9

which is general public comment continued. so, if you did not speak on item number 4 and would like to speak on a general public comment, please come forward. >> my name is jean greki, my background is in law enforcement, both as a police and as a sworn [inaudible] can you hear me? in january of this year, i was hired by the rec and parks department as one of six new park officers, i was one of the most experience officers and the only female. based on hiring requirements, we were to complete the six month probationary period, however, a week before our probation ended, we were told we were going to be extended

because of a department error, we bargained for a two month extension, i was able to work all shifts during that time frame, however, a few days before my probation was to end, i was released by the department without just cause. i would like to state i have never been released from any position in any capacity. i took great pride in my job and focused on promoting good public relations for the department, i took that extra step to assist the park rangers when possible. i believe creating positive relationships is essential to provide all. i was pleased to read in the newspaper recently that there's an effort to professional the park patrol unit, they should serve the community by upholding its mission. i hope the department will

adopt written performing standards that will be reflected in a fair and just manner, i trust you as park commissioners will support the department and hold them accountable in realizing these efforts to have a professional system. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> merry christmas, commissioners, members of the public, what a horror show america's become. all you have to do is look in the newspapers, look at our landscape, look at our parks and if you're anything of a human being, you have to realize it's a tragic horror show and if you don't realize that, you need to check

yourself in the mirror. do you think we're made to live like this? groveling for rights that we used to have, simple rights? i don't think so. i don't think it takes any kind of person to realize that there's just some things you don't do, there's some jobs you don't perform, i'm just wondering if working for rec and park is one of them because at some point, you have to realize that you have an

obligation to other people in your community at some level, and at some point, you have to realize that you're not really serving them in any way, that it's just a dictatorship and there's nothing they can do to help themselves. that is a very lonely and gazi type situation that characterizes recreation and park departments in the bay area right now. dictatorship, dictatorship, dictatorship. and what made you